Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-26-2026
Abstract
The objective was to produce and characterize a red colorant resulting from interaction of sunflower-derived chlorogenic acid with L-tryptophan/Trp and to evaluate its applications. Yield, intensity, solubility, stability, protein, and metal content of colorants from pH 9 and pH 11 lyophilized sunflower flour- Trp colorants were measured. Red color formation took < 3 h with alkalization and subsequent acidification. The sunflower flour: Trp mixture ratio that produced the greatest redness was 10:2. The highest red pigment was in supernatants and not the precipitates. The red colorant intensity and solubility were highest at neutral pH when compared to acidic pH solutions. The color stability of the new red colorant in icing and refrigerated whole milk matrices, when assessed weekly for a month, showed no color change in refrigerated milk. After 30 min of incubation at 63 °C, pinkness in milk remained unchanged or increased. The pink color, however, faded in icing over time due to exposure to light. The present study established a new natural red colorant developed from sunflower protein-Trp mixtures at alkaline pH, as well as its application in icings and whole milk for commercial strawberry milk products. This colorant could serve as a replacement for the synthetic petroleum-based Red 3.
Recommended Citation
Nguyen, S., Wong, M., & Were Senger, L. (2026). Alkaline and acid extraction of an L-tryptophan–sunflower flour red colorant: Production, characterization, and utilization. LWT, 244, 119200. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2026.119200
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Comments
This article was originally published in LWT, volume 244, in 2026. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lwt.2026.119200